The present invention relates generally to polycrystalline alumina ceramics. It finds particular application in connection with an alumina ceramic composition which is doped with zirconia, magnesia, and lutetia, which is suited to formation of a discharge vessel for a lamp and will be described with particular reference thereto.
Discharge tubes for high intensity discharge (HID) lamps, and in particular, high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps have been fabricated from a variety of translucent alumina materials, including polycrystalline alumina and single crystalline alumina (sapphire). The discharge tube includes a fill of light-emitting elements, such as sodium and mercury, and a starting gas, such as argon. When the lamp is energized, an arc discharge forms with a characteristic emission spectrum which is related to the particular composition of the fill.
The life of such sodium lamps is frequently limited by the loss of the sodium portion of the fill during lamp operation by diffusion of sodium ions through the wall of the discharge tube. The lost sodium is then unavailable to the arc discharge and can no longer contribute its characteristic emissions, causing the light output to gradually diminish, and causing the color to shift from white towards blue. In addition, the arc becomes more constricted, and in a horizontally operated lamp, the arc may bow against and soften the arc chamber wall. Sodium loss may also cause the operating voltage of the lamp to increase to the point where the arc can no longer be sustained by the ballast and failure of the lamp may result.
Ceramics doped with magnesium oxide and used in lamps have been shown to be susceptible to darkening the outer jacket when lamps are operated at wattages above the design space of the ceramic arc tube. Darkening of the glass outer jacket has been linked to a combination of evaporation of the ceramic arc chamber and sodium loss through the walls of the arc tube due to reaction and diffusion mechanisms. This can limit lumen output and the useful life of the lamp. In addition to the sodium diffusion, the sodium in the arc can react with the alumina at the grain boundaries to form sodium aluminate, which adversely affects the structural integrity of the tube and shortens lamp life. Discharge lamps are being designed for ever increasing internal sodium partial pressure within the alumina arc tube to improve the color rendition and provide a whiter emitted light. However, higher internal sodium pressure further shortens lamp life due to increased rate of sodium loss from the arc chamber. Progressive sodium loss results in a corresponding continual rise in the lamp operating voltage, a decrease of both correlated color temperature and color rendering index, and a color shift from white to pink. Also, the sodium which migrates through the arc chamber wall deposits on the inside wall of the evacuated outer lamp envelope causing a brownish stain on the envelope which, in turn, further reduces the light output of the lamp.
The manufacture of polycrystalline alumina (PCA) and single crystal alumina (sapphire) HPS arc discharge lamps is known. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,026,210; 4,150,317 and 4,285,732 to Coble, Alaska et al., and Charles et al., respectively, disclose the production of a high density alumina body having improved visible light transmission using relatively pure alumina powder and small amounts of magnesia.
It is desirable for lamps to have a high efficiency to reduce power consumption. A need exists for an alumina arc tube having a reduced tendency to permit sodium diffusion which also provides high transmission of light.